A photo of a Desert Wheatear (Oenanthe deserti), male
Desert Wheatear, Male

Desert Wheatear

Oenanthe deserti

The desert wheatear (Oenanthe deserti) is a wheatear, a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher (Muscicapidae). It is a migratory insectivorous species, in length. Both western and eastern forms of the desert wheatear are rare vagrants to western Europe. The western desert wheatear breeds in the Sahara and the northern Arabian peninsula. The eastern race is found in the semi-deserts of Central Asia and in winter in Pakistan and northeast Africa. The plumage of the upper parts of the male in summer is buff. The underparts are white with a buff tinge on the breast. The black on the face and throat extends to the shoulders, and there is distinct white superciliary stripe. The female is greyer above and buffer below and has no black on the throat, and in the winter plumage the black on the throat of the male is partially obscured by the white tips of the feathers. A distinguishing characteristic, in both sexes of all ages, is that the entire tail is black to the level of the upper tail-coverts. The desert wheatear feeds largely on insects which it picks up off the ground. It breeds in the spring when a clutch of usually four pale blue, slightly speckled eggs is laid in a well-concealed nest made of grasses, mosses and stems.
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Desert Wheatears on Birda

Photos

Sightings

A photo of a Desert Wheatear photographed in  Germany
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Jannis Leistikow
Thursday 12 Jan 2023 - 1:13pm
Germany
A map showing the sighting location
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Al-oshoush Abdullah
Friday 16 Dec 2022 - 12:17pm
Saudi Arabia
A map showing the sighting location
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Al-oshoush Abdullah
Friday 16 Dec 2022 - 12:13pm
Saudi Arabia
A map showing the sighting location
🦢
Al-oshoush Abdullah
Friday 16 Dec 2022 - 11:58am
Saudi Arabia
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